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Flood Mitigation ProgramProtecting Lives, Protecting Property | Floodplain Management, Mapping, and Mitigation

www.dnr.sc.gov/flood

WHEN DISASTER

STRIKES, AGAIN

Maria Cox Lamm, CFM

Ed Dickson, PE, CFM

May 3, 2017

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Agenda

• Introduction/2015 Recovery

• Hurricane Matthew

• 2015/Matthew Compare

• Flood Mitigation Program

• Response and Recovery

• Lessons Learned

• Path Toward Resilience

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Introduction

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Introduction

• 2015 Recovery was progressing in some cases

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Introduction

• 2015 Recovery not progressing well in other cases

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v

Hurricane

Matthew

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Hurricane Matthew - Coastal

Landfall – McClellanville, SC on morning of October 8, 2016

GoogleMaps

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State of Emergency and Evacuations

• State of Emergency issued Tuesday October 4

• Evacuations for entire coast of SC began Wednesday October 5

• Interstate 26 reversed on Wednesday October 5

• Lane reversal ended on Friday October 7

Hurricane Matthew - Coastal

• Lifted evacuation

orders on Sunday and

Monday, October 9th

and 10th

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Hurricane Matthew - Coastal

Edisto Beach, SC - Before: Mapbox, Digital Globe and OpenStreetMap

After: NOAA National Geodetic Survey

Storm Surges:

Edisto Beach – 6.6’

Charleston – 6.1’

Myrtle Beach – 4.4’

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Hurricane Matthew - Coastal

Edisto Beach - Palmetto Blvd

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Hurricane Matthew - Riverine

Max 48-hr Precipitation

Darkest Blue = > 16 inches

Little Pee Dee and Waccamaw Watersheds 12 -18 in

Max 48-hr ARI

Darkest Maroon = > 1,000-year ARI

Little Pee Dee and Waccamaw Watersheds > 100 yr events

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Hurricane Matthew - Riverine

Pee Dee, Little Pee Dee and Waccamaw gages set all-time stage records

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2015 / 2016

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2015 / 2016 Storm Data

The % area of South Carolina that received rainfall within a given ARI range is below

20162015

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2015 / 2016 Impact Stats

2016Damage

Total Public Damage

SC Direct Cost

Infrastructure

Agriculture

FEMA public aid

Private insurance claims

Housing restore needs

SBA loans

FEMA Individual Aid

Tourism Losses

$2,200

$150

$150

$580

$300

$280

$140

$80

$90

NA

$340

$64

$100

$50

$32

$70

3*

$25

$28

$32

Dollar amounts in Millions

* Estimated

2015

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SCDNR Flood

Mitigation Program

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Flood Mitigation Program

• State coordinating office for the NFIP

• Works with 235 communities to evaluate needs

• SC has over 201,000 policies (6th in nation)

• Over 11,800 claims since the 2015 event

• Over 7,300 paid within 4 months

• Over 40,400 IA applications approved

• Trained and assisted local officials with SDEs

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Flood Mitigation Program

• Assist in any way possible

• Began to look at impact of potential significant rainfall before the storm

• Identified Little Pee Dee (LPD), Pee Dee, and Waccamaw as potential issues

• After landfall analyzed rainfall totals in SC & NC

• Concern raised about available flood forecasts

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Flood Mitigation Program

• Concern about LPD, and Waccamaw forecasts

• Both blackwater rivers

• Had a moment to investigate

• Whitewater vs blackwater

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Response &

Recovery

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Response & Recovery

• Voiced concerns at SEOC

• Town of Nichols requested evacuation assistance

• SCDNR requested inundation map

• Law Enforcement used map to organize and stage resources

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Response & Recovery

• Produced inundation information and peak arrival time estimates

• Provided specialized information for officers in the field

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Response & Recovery

• Officers

shared info

from the

field to verify

inundation

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Drone Ortho Overlay

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Response & Recovery

Finally ahead of the water…

• Bucksport

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Response & Recovery

– SCDOT – use to assist in determining what roads to close and for how long

– SCDNR Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries – used to assist in determining where to close deer season

– Local Floodplain Managers – used to assist in evacuations

– SCDHEC – used Drone information from Nichols

• Word got out

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Lessons Learned

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Lessons Learned

• Flood Mitigation Program responded immediately to assist

• Need a clearly defined communication tree

• Emergency Response people did not know who to contact

• Called several people off hours

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Lessons Learned

• The way you communicate is paramount

• Focus your communication in a precise and detailed manner

• How much do you push?

• Have to speak for all impacted communities

• If you have more in depth knowledge or information don’t be afraid to share

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Path Toward

Resilience

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Path Toward Resilience

• Dedicated website

– Platform to display digital data

– Develop SC specific database

– Point and click BFEs, risk assessment, and

downloadable data and models

– Flood warning system

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Path Toward Resilience

• Flood warning system

– Statewide, seamless system

– Real-time mapping

– State-of-the art tools and approach

– Integrate riverine and coastal hazards

– Holistic approach

– Plan, Prepare, Respond, and Recover

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Be prepared to take the heat

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Flood Mitigation ProgramProtecting Lives, Protecting Property | Floodplain Management, Mapping, and Mitigation

www.dnr.sc.gov/flood

QUESTIONS&COMMENTS

Maria Cox Lamm, CFM

Ed Dickson, PE, CFM

May 3, 2017